Tseng leads LPGA Championship with 66

Yani Tseng of Taipei, Taiwan acknowledges the gallery on the 18th green during the third round of the LPGA State Farm Classic golf tournament Saturday, June 11, 2011 in Springfield, Ill.
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Associated Press
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By John Kekis, Associated Press

Sunday, June 26, 2011

PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Top-ranked Yani Tseng shot a 6-under 66 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead over Paula Creamer in the first round of the LPGA Championship.

Defending champion Cristie Kerr, who was ailing with a light case of the flu, shot an even-par 72.

Play was halted in the early evening by a severe thunderstorm with 58 players still on the course.

Tseng, No. 1 in the world, made five birdies on the front nine and three more on the back to go with a pair of bogeys. She recovered from a bad tee shot at the par-4 18th hole that landed in the thick right rough, hit her second shot to 4 feet, and drained the birdie putt for sole possession of the lead.

Tseng won the LPGA State Farm Classic on June 12 for her second victory of the year.

Nobody handed Cheyenne Woods an LPGA card. She earned it the old-fashioned way, playing on developmental tours to earn her stripes and then grinding over a 3-footer for par on her 90th hole of LPGA Q-School to realize a lifelong dream.

Cheyenne Woods showed the kind of resolve it takes to survive LPGA Q-School; One day after posting a head-scratching 79, Woods came to the more forgiving Jones Course at LPGA International and notched seven birdies.

Cheyenne Woods bounces back at LPGA Q-School

Cheyenne Woods bounced back in the third round of LPGA Q-School's final stage with a 67.
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Mark Sims / LPGA Tour
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Stacy Lewis swept LPGA postseason honors, winning Rolex Player of the Year, the Vare Trophy and the money title, but she had to share the spotlight with Lydia Ko, who won the CME Group Tour Championship and the CME Race to the Globe bonus check Sunday in Naples, Fla.

Julieta Granada won the first $1 million payout in LPGA history as a rookie in 2006 at the ADT Championship. Funny how Granada has found her way back to the top now that a $1 million prize has returned to the tour.

Granada leads LPGA finale, drama heightens

Julieta Granada, who hasn't won on the LPGA tour since 2006, leads the CME Group Tour Championship by a single shot entering the final round.
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Associated Press
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It didn’t take long for Stacy Lewis to start crunching numbers. Moments after she wrapped her post-round interview, Lewis headed to the back of the room to look at a closer breakdown of Race to the Globe scenarios.

For Lewis, LPGA finale all about scenarios

After finishing the third round of the CME Group Tour Championship, Stacy Lewis spent time considering the scenarios that could play out in the final round.
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Associated Press
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No one can cause a stir on the red carpet like Michelle Wie. And when she follows an evening of glamor with a smooth 67 to vault up the leaderboard at the CME Group Tour Championship, well, it’s doubly fantastic for the LPGA.

Red-carpet star Wie climbs leaderboard in Naples

Michelle Wie during the Rolex Awards Banquet in Naples. Through 36 holes of the CME Group Tour Championship, Wie is two shots off the lead.
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Photo Courtesy of LPGA/Gabriel Roux
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